Located near the Arizona-Utah border, South Lake Powell is a lively hub of activity. Whether you're skimming across the water on a wakeboard, jet skiing through hidden coves, or paddling in serene spots, South Lake Powell is where your adventurous spirit comes to life with thrilling moments on the water!
Antelope Canyon is most commonly known for its scenic slot canyon region, but near its confluence with the Colorado River, the canyon widens and provides an enticing boating adventure. Enter the mouth of this canyon about 4 miles up from the Glen Canyon Dam on the East side of Antelope Island. The Canyon's kinks and bends will draw you in and the towering walls of sandstone on either side of you will keep you peering around the next corner.
If you're looking for a quiet, more private, and more intimate place to play and explore, check out Face Canyon. With its high walls, it offers more shade in summer—and less traffic, so you'll feel as though you have it all to yourself. About 2.5 hours from the marina by houseboat, Face Canyon offers plenty of scenic offshoots and canyons that are fun to explore by kayak, powerboat or personal watercraft.
When the early river runners saw this big notch as they came down the Colorado River in the days before the Glen Canyon Dam, they named it Gunsight Canyon for its resemblance to that part of a firearm. Today, you can still see the slot that rises some 800 feet above Lake Powell, and towering Gunsight Butte, which casts its shadow (and provides great summer shade) across the canyon.
One of the longest of Lake Powell's 96 major side canyons, Navajo Canyon is also one of the only side canyons to have been a tributary of the Colorado River. The canyon twists and meanders 15.5 miles past 600' high walls laden with Navajo Tapestries; iron oxide and manganese residue from the above, now eroded, beds of shale, that have "draped" down the sides of the canyon walls.
Seven miles across and nine miles long, Padre Bay is the biggest bay on Lake Powell. It's also one of the most scenic, with spectacular views of monuments such as Domingues Butte, Tower Butte, Cookie Jar Butte, and the aptly-named Boundary Butte, which sits astride both Utah and Arizona. So while you'll have plenty of space for powerboating and pulling along skiers, wakeboarders, or kids (or grandparents!) on tubes, you'll also find plenty of wind-sheltered areas to park your houseboat, and alluring backshoots like Kane Wash Canyon that are great for kayaking and exploring.
A big, broad, scenic expanse, Wahweap Bay gives you plenty of wide-open space for waterskiing and wakeboarding, yet it also offers its share of notch canyons (such as Wiregrass Canyon, Lone Rock Canyon, and Ice Cream Canyon) that are ideal for kayaks and even paddleboards. But perhaps the best thing about Wahweap Bay is its proximity to, well, everything.
Warm Creek Bay is just 20 minutes from the marina by houseboat via the Castle Rock Cut (which is usually open spring, summer, and fall), offering a great combination of remote splendor and convenient access to the marina, gas, dining, and supplies. Great for wakeboarding (it's about the same size as Wahweap Bay), Warm Creek Bay also provides beautiful views and nice sandy beaches. Take your personal watercraft or kayak exploring side canyons such as Crosby Canyon, where the set of a western town was constructed for the 1994 movie Maverick.
